Kawasaki Ninja 650R

Message

AZRider · #1 Unread post by **AZRider** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:29 am

Does anyone have one of these? I am becoming more and more interested as the days go by.
Any thoughts and opinions?

Ninja Geoff · Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:16 am

Garbage. Giant pieces of garbage

j/kj/k. I've got one. Love it. Do yourself a favor, and find an 06. The new ones aren't as good looking (sorry 07 crowd, it's true

).

The only issue I've had (besides the saddle, though most everyone complains of stock saddles

) is the pullback on the bars. Though that's more of an ergonimic thing for me.

AZRider · #3 Unread post by **AZRider** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:07 am

Tell me more.
I am becoming obsessed with this bike.
I am planning on moving to Cali. in the next couple years, and Im thinking this just might be the perfect commuter bike. Through some soft bags on it and its size,weight, seating position, and narrowness would make it perfect for traffic and lane splitting. And it could be taken to the track on the weekends.

I would still keep my pig for long hauls and weekend cruises, But for everyday and weekend trackdays......................

Ninja Geoff · Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:43 am

lol it is well suited to lanesplitting... says the MA/ME resident

While it is a new bike, the aftermarket support is huge. The low end grunt it has makes it a breeze in heacy traffic. It's nimble as hell at low speeds. Riding it just says "fun". Also, passenger comfort isn't that bad. And the bike hardly even notices a passenger, with the exception that the steering feels heavier. The bars do require input to turn though, not just leaning (regardless of having a passenger). The bikes geometry leans to the sport touring side of things in that regard, though I've read simply dropping the front end a bit makes a difference in that.

It's hard to explain, but the bike is great. I just wish it had more straight line power sometimes. Though in the twisty bits, i can easily smoke my roomate on his YZF750. And as much as I want a dual-sport, i just don't want to give up the ninja. So it looks like i need to save up a LOT of money so i can get 2 bikes

Super Dave · Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:06 pm

ask mordeth13. He rides the 06 and you can catch is vlogs on Live Video. I don't like the saddle on the Ninja 650R but other than that it looks nice.

AZRider · #6 Unread post by **AZRider** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:49 pm

Ninja Geoff wrote:lol it is well suited to lanesplitting... says the MA/ME resident

While it is a new bike, the aftermarket support is huge. The low end grunt it has makes it a breeze in heacy traffic. It's nimble as hell at low speeds. Riding it just says "fun". Also, passenger comfort isn't that bad. And the bike hardly even notices a passenger, with the exception that the steering feels heavier. The bars do require input to turn though, not just leaning (regardless of having a passenger). The bikes geometry leans to the sport touring side of things in that regard, though I've read simply dropping the front end a bit makes a difference in that.

It's hard to explain, but the bike is great. I just wish it had more straight line power sometimes. Though in the twisty bits, i can easily smoke my roomate on his YZF750. And as much as I want a dual-sport, i just don't want to give up the ninja. So it looks like i need to save up a LOT of money so i can get 2 bikes

Well it looks like Ill have to save some money too. I already have the expensive bike. Hopefully I can get it paid for so I can get one when I move. Ive got about 3 years.

pujolshomerun · Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:03 pm

A friend of mine has that bike. Honestly, it's a piece of c*r*a*p. It has an old design and it looks cheap. If you don't like racing replicas and want to have a street bike with higher handlebars, I recomand you Yamaha FZ6 and Suzuki 2008 GSX650F.

Ninja Geoff · Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:28 am

pujolshomerun wrote:A friend of mine has that bike. Honestly, it's a piece of c*r*a*p. It has an old design and it looks cheap. If you don't like racing replicas and want to have a street bike with higher handlebars, I recomand you Yamaha FZ6 and Suzuki 2008 GSX650F.

wtf? Old design? It was designed from the ground up a new bike a few years ago. EVERYTHING about it is new, nothing borrowed from other bikes. Er, except the headlight, that's from a Z1000.

Sev · #9 Unread post by **Sev** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:47 am

Ninja Geoff wrote:
pujolshomerun wrote:A friend of mine has that bike. Honestly, it's a piece of c*r*a*p. It has an old design and it looks cheap. If you don't like racing replicas and want to have a street bike with higher handlebars, I recomand you Yamaha FZ6 and Suzuki 2008 GSX650F.
wtf? Old design? It was designed from the ground up a new bike a few years ago. EVERYTHING about it is new, nothing borrowed from other bikes. Er, except the headlight, that's from a Z1000.

LoL... well it is like a 2 year old design now Geoff. That's like... 60 in sportbike years

. Time to get a new one.

Seriously though, the ninja 650's are great bikes. Good off the line grunt, though they lack a little top end. The parallel twin design is cheap to produce, easy to work on, and hellaciously efficient.

One of my co-workers bought the Versys (same engine as the 650), and I was just barely able to keep up with him on the track riding my 599.

Ninja Geoff · Sat Aug 25, 2007 2:55 am

Sev wrote:
Ninja Geoff wrote:
pujolshomerun wrote:A friend of mine has that bike. Honestly, it's a piece of c*r*a*p. It has an old design and it looks cheap. If you don't like racing replicas and want to have a street bike with higher handlebars, I recomand you Yamaha FZ6 and Suzuki 2008 GSX650F.
wtf? Old design? It was designed from the ground up a new bike a few years ago. EVERYTHING about it is new, nothing borrowed from other bikes. Er, except the headlight, that's from a Z1000.
LoL... well it is like a 2 year old design now Geoff. That's like... 60 in sportbike years . Time to get a new one.

Seriously though, the ninja 650's are great bikes. Good off the line grunt, though they lack a little top end. The parallel twin design is cheap to produce, easy to work on, and hellaciously efficient.

One of my co-workers bought the Versys (same engine as the 650), and I was just barely able to keep up with him on the track riding my 599.

LOL, well, to Kawasaki, that's still new. And it's not a super-sport, most it'll get for a few years is new colors. I personally would love to see a 1000 version, akin to the SV1000. Not ZX-10R handling or performance, but a good, solid I-Twin with some serious grunt and better suspension/brakes.

And either he's a great rider (i don't doubt that, guys who work at bike shops tend to be*) or the Versys is more capable than I give it credit for. Guess I'm a lottle sore over that "dual-sport" getting better suspension than the Ninja

*there's a shop next town over, owner's son can kick most anyone's "O Ring" on the roads around here, and on a XR250R plated for the street... With knobbies. Never had the pleasure to see him ride, but i've heard he can do stuff with a goldwing that would make club racers blush.